Andaman Beach Resort Ko Phi Phi Don

Finally, we were all glad to get our feet on dry land even if it meant putting on our rucksacs again! We were met at the jetty by a man from the Andaman Beach Resort, our accomodation for one night that we had booked from the mainland just incase the island was full, didn't fancy sleeping on the beach even though it was free! They hadn't told us that our bungalows were at the opposite end of the beach from the jetty so we had to walk approx 1km with all our baggage in the midday sun!!! Luckil...

Finally after a day and a half of travel, we'd arrived on Ko Phi Phi island. The overnight train was a bit different than we'd expected but not unpleasant. Instead of the European style compartments containing 4 bunk beds on one side of the train, this was a passenger train that was converted into sleeping berths for the "deluxe" second class cars. Curtains and safety belts for the upper bunks on either side of the train with luggage racks right in the middle walking aisle characterized our j...

Entry not finished - putting photos up first

After our two days of trips, we finished with an overnight trip to Ko Phi Phi, an Island just off the west coast of Thailand. Spending the trip snorkelling in the sea and enjoying a big buffet lunch, we arrived in gorgeous Ko Phi Phi, the first Island that had a proper pier to dock at. After checking into our resort, we spent the rest of the day sunbathing on what we didn't realise was going to be our last day of sun for a while!

The next day, knowing we had an open ticket back to Phu...

Si', e' proprio il primo. Mentre il traghetto si lascia Ko Phi Phi alle spalle, cerco di ricordarne qualcun'altro, ma credo sia proprio il primo dei miei ventinove compleanni che passo lontano da casa. Ed ovviamente non posso che passarlo viaggiando, anche se e' solo per una traversata di un paio d'ore fino a Krabi. Non potevo chiedere di meglio: oltre al viaggio, anche i posti non e' che siano proprio da buttare. Non capita tutti i giorni di poter scegliere dove passare il proprio compleanno...

Upon arrival in Hat Yai by train on Sunday morning, I walked to a travel agent across the street from the train station and booked a trip to Ko Lipe, the southern-most island off the west coast of Thailand.  Two hours on a mini-bus and two hours on a ferry got me there, plus a quick long-boat ride to take me to the less developed side of the island.  On the way I met two fine fellas who made good travel companions: Reno, an Austrian, and Patrick, an Australian.  They had been traveling togeth...

Packed up and went to the lobby of my guesthouse. Conveniently, a taxi driver was hanging out in the small lobby with his car outside. Checked in for the flight and hungout in the airport for a bit. There's really nothing in BKK domestic terminal to kill time with. Flight left on time and we flew over the Gulf of Thailand for most of the flight. Debated between taking a taxi or the minibus down to catch the ferry to Koh Phi Phi. Chose the minibus, which was a bit of a mistake. Just outside Ph...

In Koh Phi Phi now staying at the Andaman Resort. Decided to take PADI diving certification class, so I'm off to that now. gmail isn't working from this internet cafe, so I'll have to catch up on email tonight. Will work on the backlog of blog entries in the next day or two. Continuing this entry after a few days.... Started dive training at 9:30 with a series of videos. In the afternoon, we went out to the boat and did the confined dive near the main pier. Don't really remember what I did th...

With visits to Railay and now Phi Phi, I've fallen into the comfortable habit of returning to places I've been in the past. Probably not the best idea for a trip like this, but they're both spectacular places and with the aftermath of the tsunami, almost like new destinations too. Unlike Railay, parts of Koh Phi Phi were absolutely obliterated by the waves, and hundreds of people died here. There is reconstruction going on all around but despite this, huge areas by the waterfront are still va...

It's ok, I'm still alive. Sorry for the delay on the blog writing, but the weather has just been too damn nice here. So I'll pick up where I left off... The first 4 or 5 days here I had trouble with jet-lag & was feeling dizzy & light-headed many of the nights (no, not alcohol induced). So my first few days here weren't all that enjoyable, but I made the best of it. Following our 2 nights in Bangkok, Mel, Nadia, Kris & I hopped a 14-hr bus ride to Krabi to catch our 2-hr ferry to ...